Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-06-10

A Lively Bit Of Experience Down In
! ell Mother Auig.tor-A Shot just in
! Time.
| Have You ever enjoyed an alligator
hunt II You have not my experience
may be interesting. Before starting out
! was told that alligator hunting WAS an
exciting sport. found it particularly so.
The other day we chartered steam
launch for the trip. Our party consisted
of five. who had never seen an alligator in
his native home, and the captain of the
launch, who was an old sportsman in al
ligator hunting. We were armed with
good rifles, and had a full supply Of am
munition. Our destination was Lake Cy
press and Cypress river, where reports
said the alllgators were plentiful. The
trip across the lake was very fine and in
the course of an hour We arrived at the
mouth Of Distan canal which connects
the Cypress lake with Cypress river, and
is about ten miles long. 1t is cut through
a country of rich tropical growth. Iu an
hour and half We reached smaller
lake, and on the opposite side was the
wished for Cypress river. Our trolling
Finding a good camping ground We
landed, built fire and began cooking the
catch, which, with our other stores, fur
nshed an excellent meal
We then pushed our way up the river,
and were soon among the alligators. The
first We saw was good sized creature
over eight feet long, and | am not likely
10 forget it for some time. The animal
lay "a rap iN Icon tho hank
the tall grass and palmetto bushes. The
captain raised his ritie and b!azed away
His aim WAS good and the ball struck the
right eye. Instead of msk1ng for the
water, rs wounded alligators generally Io
the creature lay quite still We all be
lieved ii dead. and working the boat tC
shore, We leaped on the bank with a shout
Of victory. One Of the party and myself
caught the prize 10y the tail and endeay-
"red Ia pull it further up the bank while
We hailed uur companions. But the alli-
gator was not dead. With one nip of the
tail ii sent Us heels upwards in less time
than il takes TO write the fact The rest
of the party began ro beat a hasty retreat
toward the boat while | was picking my
Self mp.
RTN FOR DEAR LIFE.
At that moment the captain shouted to
run for dear life. a. We had hit hornets
nest The alligator was "A female and
was nursing a hest of young The rest Of
the party got safely on the boat. but a. |
was nearest the wounded alligator her
sound eye soon detected me, and the chase
began. With wide open mouth briStlinG
with sharp teeth she made for me. and
took TO my heels. BY some means the an
sp,al lot, IA. 4 upl
retreat was cut off. was not long in dis
covering that ! was on small island
The alligator appeared every moment 10
grow larger and larger to my distorted
vision. WAS fairly cornered. and at last
took 10 the water. forgetting in my fright
that an alligator is rs formidable in the
water as on land. As | dashed into the
river Mrs. Alligator was close upon me
| expected every moment 10 have those
wide open jaws shut about my body.
There | stood, up to my waist in the river.
and within six feet of Inc WAS the mad
dened alligator, one eye running with
blood, the other Ike burning coal
could have shot her easily, but found that
my rife was not loaded and all my am
munition was in the boat.
was in despair and considering wheth-
fight, when | heard rife crack, followed
quickly by another and the alligator WAS
n corpse. The party then landed. built Il
a fire. and dried my clothes while the
Others ate their dinner. Somehow | did
not have much appetite left. We re-em-
barked and started for more alligators.
did not leave the boat after that, but with
the rest did some fair shooting. We
killed nine, piled all the carcasses in the
row boats behind the launch. and took
them down the river TO our first camping
ground. There, with an axe. We cut off
all the heads and buried them. They will
be left in that place until the teeth, which
are valuable, rot out, when they can be
secured. The captain took off all the
hides, with which we presented him for
the Use of the launCh.-kissimee Cor. |
New York Mail and Express.